It is a painstaking process filled with Polish pride, so
pierogies are not taken lightly in my family.

Considering there is a lot of butter, sour cream, sauerkraut and
potatoes involved there is nothing light about the ethnic holiday
tradition of eating a plate(s) of pierogies.

For those who don't know, the pierogi is the Polish version of a
dumpling or ravioli.

Only butter, I mean, better.

It starts with a quick boil and then moved to a pan filled with
butter to be fried with onions and/or mushrooms.

After my grandma died more than 20 years ago, I went a long time
without enjoying a fresh pierogi (Mrs. T's in the grocery stores'
freezer section just doesn't compare) until finding out my cousin's
father-in-law makes them every Christmas Eve and Easter here in
Arizona.

The first time I had them, I couldn't get enough.

It was nostalgic more than anything. So many memories of grandma
essentially force feeding me pierogi after pierogi. There is no
arguing with a Polish grandma wielding a wooden spoon.

If she made it, you were going to eat it. Or your health would be
at risk for reasons other than all of the cholesterol you just
ingested.

The reason I went so long without having fresh ones is no one likes
the process of making them.

Depending on how many you are to make, plan on a good four- to
six-hour window.

First you have to make the dough, then the filling and then cut the
dough once the filling is placed on the dough. After that, there is
the folding over of the dough and the crucial crimping of the
sides.

After that, you have to prepare to freeze them, another drawn out
process, assuming you are making them in mass quantity.

You just have to keep reminding yourself of the wonderful end
result and you will be all right.

"We have a four- or five-person crew and it takes about four hours
over two days," said Randy Walters, owner of Pittsburgh Willy's
Gourmet Hot Dogs in Chandler. "We have found a niche here in the
East Valley because you can't find them from scratch. No one wants
to take the time."

One of the best traditional recipes on the Internet can be found at
http://home.comcast.net/~dyrgcmn/Pierogi/pierogi.html.

If the thought of going through that process sounds like too much,
I have come across a few different locales in the Valley that have
pierogies.

Pittsburgh Willy's also takes orders for those wanting to make them
at home.

"I'm Italian and German, but grew up in a neighborhood in
Pittsburgh with a lot of Polis and Ukrainians," Walters said.
"Everyone made everything from scratch for the holidays and now we
are sharing that with our customers."

No offense to Walters or anyone else making them, none of these
places can do my grandma's pierogies justice, but what they do is
take me back to her house in Parma, Ohio.

A place where she was always in the kitchen, especially during the
holidays, cooking up piles of food just in case someone in the
family came over.

It didn't matter if they were hungry or not. It was time to sit
down and eat.